Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Keity Rose on September 18, 2011 at 5:14am

I've been hooping for 3 years and still haven't figured out chest hooping with arms in (shoulder hooping?) so be patient, it will take some time to perfect.  Even if you don't have a heavy hoop, bruises happen.  When you get bruises, definitely move on to a different move to practice and let them heal..eventually you won't get any bruises.  However my friend was using a fitness hoop and she ended up getting a different one because the bruising was so bad so if it gets ridiculous you might want to get a different hoop.  Try some off-body vertical hooping to avoid bruises and I would watch these beginner videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKoUKjahPHE&feature=related

Good luck! :)

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Permalink Reply by AmandaW on September 18, 2011 at 7:13am

Arnica gel is your best hooping friend!!!! You can find it in the natural food store or natural section of your health food store. Look for the white box with green and blue stripes. It makes bruises and muscle soreness go away. I used it on my babies when they started walking and bonking their heads on tables. If I got it on right away they didn't even get a goose egg or bruise! We still use it all the time on bad bruises to make them better fast. We also use it when we have sore muscles like our arms from our typing business.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Caroline Krueger on September 18, 2011 at 8:08am

I'm no pro but I think I can help, since I hoop to the left and had the exact same problem when learning to shoulder hoop.

 

1.  The hoop is going wonky when your arms are in because they aren't tight enough to your body.  Try maintaining the hoop at your waist with your arms in before moving up to the chest, to teach your arms to stay tight and to help with the circular motion rather than hinder it.  If your arm comes off your body at all, it's going to send the hoop into an angle you can't control.  The arm movement is very subtle.

2.  If your trying to learn knee and chest hooping, it's time to graduate to a lighter hoop!  What you're doing sounds like torture.  :D  I recommend a big hoop with a smaller tube diameter, as it will be much easier on your bruises. 

 

3. Try chest hooping with one arm in and one arm up, to get the motion and rhythm.  (This is what the hoop wants to do anyway, right?)  Your chest and back have to learn how to pass the hoop on an even plane regardless of what your arms are doing. 

 

4.  Concerning the knee hooping, I'm quite sure your only problem is the heavy hoop.  It's really hard and painful to do with a big heavy beginners hoop. 

 

Hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by K-Love on September 18, 2011 at 8:45am

Caroline hit it right on the nose with this. Also, when I learned how to chest hoop I would start around my neck and bring my arms up. It's easier to let the hoop flow down than it is to move it up at first. Start chest hooping with both arms up. [Like Caroline said, if your arms aren't perfect, the hoop will get out of control] So it's easier to have no arms starting off! Make exaggerated movements with your upper torso, you're going to look goofy at first but it cleans up, I swear! Use pumping motions with your chest. Think of it as making your chest and back rounded in the back and forth motion.  Does that make sense? :] Don't rush all the shoulder hooping, it's going to be a long process. I think almost everyone has a pretty hard time with it. Took what felt like forever to be able to shoulder hoop and not have a wonky flow the whole time. Also, as always, KEEP SPINNING! Always makes things easier.

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StudentPermalink Reply by luluperuse on September 18, 2011 at 10:35am

Leg hooping is way more difficult with a large and heavy hoop.  Learning to leg hoop is precisely why I went down in hoop size weight.

 

You have to get the hoop moving faster too, to keep it up around the knees, which is more difficult to do with a heavier hoop.

 

Try practicing leg hooping while wearing jeans (or bare legs, but the jeans might offer you some little bit of protection!).  Jeans are super sticky when it comes to hooping!

 

I remember experiencing the same confusion when learning how to leg hoop: one leg should be the pusher, the other the does something different, and all the tutorials had a different opinion on this!  Eventually, I took all the great info I was getting on youtube and interpreted in through my own intuition.  For some reason, I also found Caroleeena's tutorial on leg hooping helped me out (wasn't about pusher legs, etc, but what motion you hoop in), but I don't know why!  Shortly after watching that tutorial, I got the "a ha!" moment.

 

For me, my legs are both pushers (maybe one is a slightly more dominant pusher!), to help keep the hoop moving and level.  If I feel the hoop to go up too much on one side because (this is a subtle feeling), then I try to compensate by pushing with the other.  If I feel it going down to much on one side, then I try to "catch" it by pushing harder on that one side.  But these are subtle feelings that come with practice and your body recognizing what the hoop is doing even on a small scale.

 

Maybe try and get a lighter hoop while learning to leg hoop?  Pain is definitely a deterrent!  

 

Good luck, and know that you will get it!

 

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Lorena Ivett on September 18, 2011 at 11:20am

Keep your body tight :) It helps me! I've only been hoping for about a month or two and I can tell you I have more bruises than I can count! But I try to concentrate on keeping my core ( abs) tight to help balance better. I haven't perfected chest hooping with my arms but I am definitely getting the hang of it, it takes some time but you need a lot of patience! I just got my new hoop and its a 2lb hoop and bigger in size as well and it gets a little taking used to...But it definitely flows better  :) I recommend that though, concentrate on maintaining a balance and have patience! I hit my nose yesterday trying to shimmy the hoop up to my arms haha! but it's a process :) Good luck and have fun with it!

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StudentPermalink Reply by Caroline Krueger on September 18, 2011 at 12:56pm

Anyone else get frustrated trying to do the cat/cow motion when learning to shoulder or chest hoop?  I mean that's definitely what's going on, but when I tried to conciously follow that advice I couldn't do it fast enough to keep the hoop up.  When I finally got it, I realized my body can do it a lot faster than my brain can, and to stop thinking about it!  Now when I'm spinning and chest/shoulder hooping, if I think about it I can feel every inch of the hoop roll across my back; my right arm gives an almost imperceptible nudge/paddle; it rolls across my chest; my left arm passes it back to my back.  I want to learn to do it in my reverse current so I can start doing breaks and it's not coming easy or fast.  But it is coming!  You'll know you're close when you keep it up for a few rotations.  Man, what a great feeling :D

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StudentPermalink Reply by Tilly Whirls on September 19, 2011 at 12:19pm

It took me a while to learn to knee hoop well and even longer to learn to shoulder hoop well.

For me, knee hooping was all about being in bare legs. As long as my legs are bare I can knee hoop forever. And you're doing a very quick push forward and push back with one leg, alternating legs or both legs. A bit lighter hoop might work better. Maybe a 100psi or a pex hoop. I can knee hoop for a short time in jeans but I find the hoop still starts slipping down a lot. 

Shoulder hooping for me required a large hoop and four months of practice. I could "do" it as long as I was turning in a circle (start there! turn in a circle as you practice it—in the same direction as your hoop is going), but the minute I tried to stand still the hoop would go wonky. I seemed to need that extra time from turning to pull off the movement, which is why I'm able to do it in a large hoop. You need to practice both the cat cow back positions and remember to power the hoop with your right shoulder/arm while at the same time pushing down with it. Pushing down and forward with your right arm will keep the hoop from popping up to your neck and it'll help keep the hoop moving in a circle. The left shoulder should push a little from front to back.

I hear you though. I had months of smacking my left shoulder with the hoop while trying to learn shoulder hooping. It just took a long time to truly learn the right movement. When you get bruised badly, take a break from working on that movement until it heals and work on something else. Have patience, be persistent and good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Josephine on September 20, 2011 at 1:23pm

Everybody!

Thanks so much for al the advice! I am definetely getting a lighter hoop, and will try out all the tips and tricks. And above all, keep practising! I enjoy it so much! And am happy that I have discovered hooping.

Thank you all and untill further notice ;)

 

Cheers, Josephine

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